GinaCarson[dot]com's blog

Well, this is a week late according to my post title, but I do not believe we should mess with the time twice a year anyway!

In winter, ceiling fans should be set to turn the opposite direction (usually clockwise; the blades should spin with the downward turned side leading) and on a low speed. Air naturally stratifies — that is, warmer air rises to the ceiling while cooler air sinks. Unfortunately, this means it is colder on or near the floor where human beings spend most of their time. A ceiling fan, with its direction of rotation set so that air is drawn upward, pulls up the colder air below, forcing the warmer air nearer the ceiling to move down to take its place, without blowing a stream of air directly at the occupants of the room. This action works to even out the temperature in the room, making it cooler nearer the ceiling, but warmer nearer the floor. Thus the thermostat in the area can be set a few degrees lower to save energy, while maintaining the same level of comfort. It is important to run the fan at a low speed to minimize the wind chill effect.

There is an exception to the standard rule of blowing air down in the summer and pulling it up in the winter. When a ceiling fan is mounted in a room with very high ceilings (two stories/levels high or higher),or at the head of a tall set of stairs, the mode of operation is reversed. In this scenario the fan is mounted so high up that there is no significant “wind chill effect”. The purpose then becomes to move hot air down in the winter and pull cold air up in the summer

The will be the first official “Girl MacGyver” Tip from GLC… stay tuned.

They put that little switch on ceiling fans for a reason.

• Share this:
• Print
• Email
• Share

• Reddit
• StumbleUpon
• Digg
• Facebook